


the light is not a mystery

by BriarBone



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Ambiguous-Gender Apprentice (The Arcana), F/M, M/M, Other, Unnamed Apprentice (The Arcana), anyway they're playing with makeup because gender isn't real, listen I just wanted to do something small and soft, not the questionable soft but the real soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarBone/pseuds/BriarBone
Summary: “Oh, I’ve made a mistake.”“You have?”  He’s trying to sound serious, but it doesn’t stop him trying to pull you closer.  You allow yourself to be dragged along even though you’re still pretending to be serious yourself.  The look in his lined eyes gives you a fluttery feeling that’s got you curling your fingers into his hair.“A grave error.  You’re too gorgeous, now.  I can’t let you out like this.”
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana), Asra (The Arcana)/Reader, Asra (The Arcana)/You
Comments: 5
Kudos: 156





	the light is not a mystery

**Author's Note:**

> tbh this was going to be porn but I got distracted with different porn so instead you get this soft romantic shit.
> 
> Title from Richard Siken's 'Visible World'.

You fight the urge to stick out your tongue, instead sucking your lower lip between your teeth as you do your best to draw a straight line. Seated before you, Asra opens the eye you aren’t attempting to darken with smoldering clove. You staunchly ignore the hands on your waist. He’s resting his fingers lightly, but the slow drag of them over your hips could have you poking his eye out. Or worse, ruining the painstaking line you’re just about to finish.

“I love to see you so focused.”

“Shush.”

“It’s cute, though you do usually stick out your tongue—“

“I said shush,” you say, though you just barely hide a smile by pursing your lips. There. Asra blinks both eyes open as you lean back to inspect your handiwork. It’s not perfect, but you’re proud of the faintly winged eyeliner you managed to pull off on him. “Oh, I’ve made a mistake.”

“You have?” He’s trying to sound serious, but it doesn’t stop him trying to pull you closer. You allow yourself to be dragged along even though you’re still pretending to be serious yourself. The look in his lined eyes gives you a fluttery feeling that’s got you curling your fingers into his hair.

“A grave error. You’re too gorgeous, now. I can’t let you out like this.” You can feel your lips twitching and Asra’s already given up on hiding his grin, his hands sliding up your waist and around your back.

“A grave error, indeed. Well then, it seems only right that we match.”

You watch suspiciously as he reaches across the table, the one usually reserved for eating dinner at but has recently become home to a mess of cosmetics you’ve acquired by way of gifts and curiosity. Asra dips his thumb into a small pot of shimmering gold paste, something you’ve seen Nadia pat over her cheekbones, and wait for Asra to do the same to you. Instead, he traces his thumb over your lower lip.

Surprised, you open your mouth to speak before thinking better of it. You curl a hand over Asra’s wrist to keep his thumb in place, and clumsily smear the gold onto your upper lip as well.

You really have made a mistake. Asra’s eyes are much more intense with the black clove around them, drawing out the darkness of his pupils and how deeply focused they are on you. You aren’t normally the shy type, especially not with Asra, but you find yourself almost immobile under his gaze. You refuse to avert your eyes, even as you raise Asra’s gently captured hand to your cheek. He touches his thumb just beneath your eye and you close them, waiting.

You hear him exhale through his teeth, shuddering too much to be a laugh. The two of you didn’t actually have plans for the evening, and the desire to practice putting makeup on Asra was more of a childish whim than any more intimate plot. But in the span of breathless moments you find yourself straddling him on the bench, precariously balanced with one hand still curled into Asra’s hair.

“Oh, that’s not fair.” Asra says softly. “You can’t possibly be any more radiant than this.”

Your mouth feels dry, and you quickly try to wet your lips. You end up with an unexpected tang on your tongue and the moment passes in an instant, Asra laughing beautifully as your mouth puckers up against the taste of the gold paint. But he doesn’t let go of you, draws you even closer. His forehead rests against your collarbone, his shoulders still shaking with subsiding giggles. You take the moment he isn’t watching you to try and scrape your tongue with your teeth.

“Asra,” you say suddenly, and he looks up at you with a grin. “We _should_ match.”

__

He doesn’t catch on quickly enough and you’re delighted to land a wet kiss on his mouth, sharing the bitter gold flavor with him. He starts but still doesn’t let go, and you realize how badly you’ve miscalculated.

__

Mistakes, indeed.

__

You wake up to sunlight streaming through the open windows. Your tongue feels heavy in your mouth, and it tastes terrible. Vaguely you recall the jug of water by the bedside and you reach for it, lifting yourself up just enough to drink straight from the pitcher. With groggy coherence you manage to put the jug back, and that’s when something catches your eye.

__

Gold smears shimmer along your arms and shoulders, over your chest and down your abdomen. You glance at Asra and he’s not much better, the majority of the gold on his face left by your lips and gold clumping his hair from where you’d held him. He looks distractingly magical, so when he opens his eyes to see you staring you barely remember to whisper a good morning.

__

“Good morning yourself.” He says, voice deep and raspy from sleep. He clears his throat and beams at you, his eyes sparking mischief even through the smudged black around them. “Seems the sun settled in bed with me today.”

__

You laugh and kiss the glimmer off his lips.

__


End file.
